High school boys soccer: Darts keep their cool, comeback against Layton

KAYSVILLE — The script that was unfolding before their eyes was a familiar one to the Davis Darts, a storyline they agonizingly witnessed several times last spring. They came out, outplayed their opponent and created a number of scoring chances. They didn't capitalize on any of them, however, and then they gave up a goal at the other end.

However, unlike last year when they'd struggle mightily to turn the scoreline back around, Davis didn't get rattled in the slightest when they fell behind, 1-0, to rival Layton midway through the first half on Thursday.

Indeed, the Darts simply shrugged off the deficit and just kept on working. Josh Hernandez assisted to Gentrie Maag for an equalized goal just four minutes later, and junior striker Casey Black scored early in the second half to give the Darts a 2-1 win.

"Last year we probably would've let that get to us, but I think this team has a little bit more confidence, and they know that we can score goals because we have in the previous games that we've had," said Davis coach Souli Phongsavath. "They responded well."

When Layton junior Kyle Blanchard scored to put the Lancers ahead 1-0 in the 22nd minute, it was Hernandez, nicknamed Fez, and Maag, nicknamed C-unit, that got Davis back into the game.

After winning a free kick just inside Layton's half, Hernandez sent a beautiful ball into the box, and Maag rose extremely well to nod it home and level the scoreline.

"It starts with them," Phongsavath said of his two stars. "I challenged them at the beginning of this year to be leaders. I think last year they took it a little bit lightly because it was their junior year. But this year they've said, 'Hey, follow me. If you need any support, follow us and we'll show you where we need to be.' "

That's precisely what they did to get Davis back into the game, and then it was Black who gave the Darts the win.

In the 50th minute, Davis sent a long ball forward from halfway inside its own half. Black did phenomenally well to control the ball over his shoulder with his first touch, and he then took another touch and fired an unstoppable shot into the net.

"The hard part was his (first) touch," said Phongsavath. "He had a chance earlier that was probably an easier touch to have, and he messed it up. So when I saw that, I just thought, 'Wow.' And then after that, the finish was secondary because the first touch was such a good touch."

All in all, Black's second goal proved to be the exclamation point on a solid Davis performance. The Darts were somewhat wasteful in front of goal and never really got their passing game going as well as they sometimes do, but nonetheless, they did enough to confidently get an important result.

With the win, Davis stayed atop the early Region 1 table with six points and moved to 3-0 overall. Meanwhile, Layton fell to 0-4.

e-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com